BLOG: Working on a social media strategy

AKRON (Jan. 19, 2015) — Now halfway through January, I am going strong with my personal New Year's resolutions and keeping my professional ones in line as well. One of the biggest things on the chopping block for me this month is to touch base with Tire Business' social media strategy and think about ways to grow, improve, etc.

Although we do not only go over this once a year — and neither should you — it is a good time to take a look at the year ahead. The first place I like to start is with a simple question: what is working?

Because social media is an ever changing platform, what you did last year may not continue to work the same way going forward. Certain things like, when to post, how to post, where to post, etc., may need to be shifted.

When meeting to discuss our own strategy plans, I sat down with Tire Business Online Manager Alaina Scott and asked if she had any quick tips. She suggested setting horizon goals and taking yourself out of your comfort zone when strategizing. With that, learn as much as you can about the perspectives and perceptions of others and have that play a part in your strategy. In addition, attending industry events and staying on top of trends will help out.

I am always for learning new ways to get the most out of social media. One of the most important aspects of social media is time management. It is easy to push social media down a notch on your “to do” list. On the flipside, once you get really involved with social media, it can easily become a distraction from other parts of your day. Finding this balance is one of the trickiest tightrope walks, but it is definitely manageable when you set up goals.

My advice for creating this strategy is to first remember it is to utilize the platform, meaning your strategy needs to be looked at time and again and altered as needed. While I think January is a great time to look at the year ahead, it should not be the only time during the year you check in. I recommend at least quarterly meetings with your social media team. If you are a small dealership and handle social media yourself or have an intern who handles it, it's still good to check in every few months. In doing so, everyone will be on the same page and you are able to adjust as needed.

I found two great resources to help you out with time management: “The Best Times to Post to Social Media (2015) by Rebecca Coleman, a marketing and media relations guru, and HubSpot's “How to Monitor Social Media in 10 minutes a day.”

Both these resources are designed to help you maximize your social media efforts. But as Rebecca wrote, “…when it comes to social media, one size definitely does NOT fit all.” Use these resources as guides, but take into consideration your audience and what you are already doing.

Here are five takeaways from each resource:

Best times to post:

On Facebook, 86 percent of posts are published during the workweek with engagement peaking on Thursday on Friday.

For Facebook, the optimal time to post is early afternoon of the time zone with most of your audience.

On Twitter, for business to consumer brands, engagements and click-through-rates are highest on weekends and Wednesdays.

For Instagram, engagement stays consistent throughout the week, with slight spikes on Mondays and a slight dip on Sundays.

On Google+, late morning during weekdays are the best time to share

Monitoring Social Media in 10 minutes a day:

Who should monitor? Social media doesn't just belong to marketing anymore. Other departments, such as sales and customer support, should be involved as well. For instance, 72.6 percent of salespeople who incorporated social media into their process outperformed their colleagues. According to charts published on Search Engine Watch, 70 percent of surveyed Twitter users expect a response from brands they reach out to on Twitter, and of those users, 53 percent want that response in under an hour.

Twitter is the new phone for customer support: 60 percent of respondents cited negative consequences to the brand if they didn't receive timely Twitter responses.

Even though social media may still feel optional for CEOs today, it won't be optional in a few years.

The rule to responding on social media tends to be “use good judgment.” However, this is not always self-explanatory to people and “might require a gut check from someone else on your team.”

Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Tire Business would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor Don Detore at [email protected].